Improvement in suspender-buckles



W. P. OSBORNE. Suspender-Buckle.

Patented July 29, I879.

NPETF-RS. FHOTOLITHOGRIPHER, WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILBUR F. OSBORNE, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN SUSPENDER-BUCKLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2] 7,953, dated July 29, 1879; application filed June 14, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILBUR F. OSBORNE, of Ansonia, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles for Suspenders, of which the following is a specifieation.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of suspender-buckles known as lever-buekles, its object being to form from sheet metal a buckle-frame having afirm abutment for the lever to clamp the suspender upon, and to provide said abutment with a head or rib, under which the suspender may be bent in order that a purchase may be had upon the same by the lever.

It has the further object to provide a strong though flexible connection between the buckleframe and the button-strap, in order that in adj ustiu g the suspender, when the said buttonstrap is engaged with the buttons, the strain upon the lever and the holding of the buckleframe in position to receive such strain without being forced against the body of the wearer may not result inbending the buckle-frame or undue outward strain upon the buttons.

It consists, first, in a buckle having the upper portion of its frame formed by a continuous flat plate having its ends bent up to form ears, in which the lever is pivoted, and having struck up on its front surface a longitudinal ridge or bead, under which the clamping-edge of the lever extends, and is adapted to bend the suspender while forcing it also firmly upon the plate.

By this construction I obtain a buckle in which a firm hold may be maintained upon the suspender by a smooth-edged lever, and thus dispense with the ordinary teeth or serrations, which are so objectionable on account of tearing and defacing the suspenders.

It consists, further, in providing the frame. of a lever-buckle with an additional cross-bar at its lower edge, and pivoting upon said additional cross-bar a swinging plate having its lower edge bent to form a curved tube to re ceive the rounded intermediate portion of a button-strap, as hereinafter more particularly described.

It consists, also, in the combination of atop my improvement.

lever-buckle with a tubular attachment for round suspender-straps, such attachment bein g made of metal, cloth, leather, or other suitable material.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of a lever-buckle provided with Fig. 2 is a section on line a; 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the position of the buckle and button-strap when the suspender is being adjusted.

The letter A indicates the buckle-frame; B, the continuous plate forming the upper portion of the frame, and bent up at the ends to form ears 0 c, in which the lever D is pivoted. Near the upper edge of the plate B is struck up a longitudinal head or ridge, 0, under which the clampingedge f of the lever extends when the thumb-piece g of said lever is pressed down upon the frame. Below the lower edge of the continuous plate B is arranged a crossbar, h, behind which the suspender passes, and from this cross-bar project short arms supporting an additional cross-bar, z, around which is bent the upper margin of a swinging plate, K, the lower portion of which is bent to form the curved tube or receptacle 1 for the intermediate rounded or cylindrical portion of the button-strap m.

It will be readily seen that the continuous plate B forms a very firm abutment to resist the pressure of the lever in clamping the sus pender, and without at all weakening, but rather stiffening, the plate. The head or ridge 0 affords a purchase upon the suspender bent under it, which renders teeth or serrations upon the clamping-edge of the lever entirely unnecessary.

The plate K being loosely attached to the cross-bar 1', when the buckle is held out from the body in order to adjust the suspender, as shown in Fig. 3, said plate can incline inwardly, and there is, therefore, not that tendency to bend the buckle-frame or strain thebuttons outwardly that there is in those buckles having the tube for holding the button-strap rigidly attached to and formed in one piece with the frame.

Having now described my invention, I claim-- 1. The sheet-metal buckle-frame having its upper portion formed of the continuous plate bent at the ends to form ears, and provided with the transverse struck-up ridge 0r bead projecting from the face of the buckle-frame, in combination with the lever pivoted in or upon said ears, and having its clamping-edge adapted to extend under said ridge or bead,

substantially as described.

2. A buckle-frame, A, constructed with a supplemental lower cross-bar, '5, upon which is permanently pivoted the swinging metallic plate K, formed with a curved tubular hearing for receiving a cylindrical button-strap, substantially as shown and described. 

